Productivity report

Bad management is the biggest drain on workplace productivity, according to a new study. A third of workers say they struggle to be productive at work, with one in six blaming their manager. A survey of 1,300 workers by management services firm ADP found that inefficient systems and staff shortages were other barriers to productivity. Staff in the financial services industry were said to face the biggest problems with productivity, with one in five blaming bad management. Older workers were more likely to suffer from poor managers, while under 24-year-olds were more distracted by social media or colleagues. Jeff Phipps, managing director of ADP UK, said: “Ineffective management is a major drain on employee output, not to mention motivation and engagement, which is why investment in management training is critical. “Processes, systems and technology must also be updated regularly, with the input of frontline staff, to ensure they are consistently helping them to … [Read more...] about Bad management holding back UK productivity – report

Danish businesses and consumers do not have the same burning desire for foreign products that characterised previous economic upswings, shows a new study from the Confederation of Danish Industry (Dansk Industri, DI). In the happy bubble years of the mid-2000s, it was particularly goods produced abroad that won favour with Danes. However, this has not been the case in recent years, where imports have increased only moderately despite growth in the economy, writes dibusiness.dk. “From the mid-90s until 2008, we generally saw that when production increased in Denmark, imports increased nearly three times as much. In recent years, this has not been the case. Neither businesses nor consumers have increased their purchase of goods and services from abroad to nearly the same degree as previously,” said DI deputy director Kent Damsgaard. Among other things, this is due to companies choosing to locate production closer to customers, which slows the growth in … [Read more...] about More Danes want Danish products: report

Philip Hammond has blamed Britain's low economic productivity - in part - on the more disabled people being in work. The Chancellor - nicknamed 'Spreadsheet Phil' because of his often robotic focus on facts and figures - has often been accused of being politically tone deaf. Asked about the fall in UK productivity reported in Hammond's budget speech, the Chancellor told the Treasury Select Committee it could be down to the number of "marginal" groups in the workforce. He said: "The consequences of high levels of unemployment, particularly youth unemployment, will be felt for many, many years to come. “It is almost certainly the case that by increasing participation in the workforce, including far higher levels of participation by marginal groups and very high levels of engagement in the workforce, for example of disabled people - something we should be extremely proud of - may have had an impact on overall productivity measurements.” Committee member and Labour MP John Mann … [Read more...] about Philip Hammond blames Britain’s low economic productivity on working disabled people

China, including Hong Kong, was indicated as a country of origin for 58 percent (1,126 notifications) of products reported to the EU watchdog RAPEX in 2012. But officials in Brussels were keen to stress that the statistic reflected China's dominant position as an exporter and did not necessarily mean that the country's products had become less safe. "The high number is due to the significant market penetration of Chinese-manufactured consumer products in European markets," EU Consumer Affairs Commissioner Tonio Borg said. Turkey came next on the list, with 5 percent of notifications in 2012. RAPEX ensures that information about dangerous products is quickly circulated between member states and the European Commission, so that appropriate action can be taken everywhere in the EU. Products identified by RAPEX can be banned, withdrawn from the market or rejected by customs authorities. Octavian Vasile, a policy officer at RAPEX, said Chinese companies were often not aware of the … [Read more...] about EU report on dangerous products cites imports from China

Arms sales went on a downward slide last year, falling by 0.6 percent compared to 2014, according to the latest analysis on the global arms industry by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The trade had been experiencing a downward trend since 2011, but the reduction in arms sales last year showed that the pace of decline had slowed. Despite the decrease, arms sales for the world's top 100 companies in 2015 reached $370.7 billion (348 billion euros), the think tank said in its study, indicating that the sinking numbers were no sign that the world was getting more peaceful. "It [arms sales] has decreased, but it is still over a third higher than it used to be in the early 2000s," Aude Fleurant, director of the SIPRI arms and military expenditure program, told DW. "It is slowing down, possibly indicating a reversal of the trend since 2010. So it is difficult to say at this stage … There are contradictory trends all over the world and it … [Read more...] about Weapons business booming despite decline in sales: SIPRI report

Qatari Energy Minister Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada said Saturday that non-OPEC members had agreed to cut a total of 558,000 barrels of oil production per day, a little less than the 600,000 the international oil cartel, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) had hoped for. The new cuts by non-members come on top of an OPEC decision on November 30 to reduce member output by 1.2 million barrels a day. Major oil producers, such as Russia and Saudi Arabia, have seen an oil glut send down prices and lower state revenues. This is thefirst deal between the 13-country OPEC and oil producing non-members since 2001 to cut oil output together. The market's focus will now switch to compliance with the agreement as OPEC has in the past been accused of playing fast and loose with output quotas. Nigeria and Libya are exempt from the November deal due to production-denting civil strife, which places further pressure on OPEC leader Saudi Arabia to cut most. Russia, … [Read more...] about Non-OPEC members agree to cut production to boost prices

The Munich Security Conference (MSC) published its annual report on Monday, with the conference chairman saying there was greater instability today across the globe than there has been since the Second World War. From a power vacuum caused by a possible US withdrawal from the global stage to the heightened threat of military escalation, the report entitled "Post-Truth, Post-West, Post-Order?" accentuates the threats to the international order in what MSC Chairman Wolfgang Ischinger described as an "illiberal moment." "The international security environment is arguably more volatile today than at any point since World War II. Some of the most fundamental pillars of the West and of the liberal international order are weakening," said the MSC chairman, Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger. "We may, then, be on the brink of a post-Western age, one in which non-Western actors are shaping international affairs, often in parallel or even to the detriment of precisely those … [Read more...] about ‘A post-Western age’: Munich Security Report details fragile world order

Environmental pollution is killing more people every year than smoking, hunger or natural disasters, according to a major study released in The Lancet medical journal on Thursday. One in every six premature deaths worldwide in 2015, could be attributed to diseases caused by toxins in air or water, the study says. Of the 9 million people killed prematurely by pollution, air pollution was the main cause of deaths, responsible for 6.5 million of the fatalities, followed by water pollution, which killed 1.8 million. Read more: Air pollution is 'top health hazard in Europe' The estimate of 9 million premature deaths, considered conservative by the authors, is one and a half times higher than the number of people killed by smoking, and three times the death toll from AIDS, turberculosis and malaria combined. It is also 15 times the number of people killed in war or other forms of violence. Ninety-two percent of pollution-related deaths occurred in low- or middle-income developing … [Read more...] about Pollution killing more people than war and violence, says report

IHS Markit, a London-based intelligence analysis firm, said Tuesday the "Islamic State" (IS) militant group has used chemical weapons at least 52 times in Iraq and Syria since 2014, when its fighters swept across vast swathes of territories in the two Middle Eastern countries. With Iraqi forces seeking to retake control of the northern city of Mosul in an ongoing offensive, IHS said the jihadists could use their Chemical, Biological and Radiological (CBR) capabilities in their defense. "As the Islamic State loses ground around Mosul, there is a high risk of the group using chemical weapons to slow down and demoralize advancing enemy forces, and to potentially make an example of - and take revenge on - civilian dissidents within the city," Columb Strack, senior analyst and head of the IHS Conflict Monitor, said in the report. Iraqi forces are facing fierce resistance from IS fighters as they began their siege of Mosul's Zohour neighborhood on Sunday. The troops have fortified … [Read more...] about Report: ‘Islamic State’ used chemical weapons in Iraq, Syria

The annual Global Carbon Budget report, published Monday in the "Earth System Science Data" journal, has concluded that emissions from burning fossil fuels have virtually flatlined for three years in a row. The report was released to coincide with UN talks on climate change in Marrakesh, Morocco, where nearly 200 countries are taking part. Carbon dioxide emissions were set to rise just 0.2 percent in 2016 from 2015 levels. "This could be the turning point we have hoped for," said David Reay, professor of carbon management at the University of Edinburgh, in a statement. Researchers involved with the report were happy that carbon emissions had leveled off while the economy saw strong growth. China, the world's most populous nation and biggest greenhouse gas polluter, helped keep emission levels in check with a reduced use of coal. Chinese emissions were on track to fall 0.5 percent this year. Emissions in the US, the world's second-highest greenhouse gas … [Read more...] about Global carbon emissions level off, still too high: report